


A Good Man

by GinnyK



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Family, Future Fic, Grief/Mourning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:14:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27067723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GinnyK/pseuds/GinnyK
Summary: Post series, Toby reflects on things in the wake of the death of President Josiah Bartlet.
Relationships: Andrea Wyatt/Toby Ziegler
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	A Good Man

**Author's Note:**

> I blame the HBO Max reunion for this. 
> 
> I watched the original Hartsfield's Landing earlier in the week and parts of this story started to rattle around in my brain. I tried to push them away as I'm in the middle of a 45K+ word Lyman family pandemic story. 
> 
> Watched the reunion last night and this happened as soon as I pulled myself together and stopped crying.
> 
> I gave Josh and Donna the same family I've used for 18 (gasp) years in my Peering into the Future series, which can be found right here on AO3. I didn't feel the need to create a new one for this as they're just mentioned in passing.
> 
> Enjoy.

The four members of the Wyatt-Ziegler family huddled on the couch watching the news. There were assorted empty coffee mugs, soda cans, water bottles and tissues strewn on the coffee table in front of them.

“We’ll take a break now for the local news. Stay with NBC for continuing coverage of the death of Former President Josiah Bartlet,” the tired newscaster said with a forced smile. The local news came on and Toby muted the television.

It was just past 5:00 PM and the four of them had been huddled on the couch for the better part of 8 hours, since their leisurely pancake breakfast had been shattered by a phone call from Abbey. Jed had died peacefully in his sleep, at the farmhouse in New Hampshire. He died on his terms, in his own bed, surrounded by his wife, children and grandchildren. In the end there had been no syringe in the nightstand. Nature had taken its course and things had gotten messy. But they had dealt with everything with the grace the world had come to expect from the Bartlet Family.

Toby and Andi had spent the day together with the twins. In between watching the coverage on television and talking on the phone, they spent the day reminiscing about Jed Bartlet. The twins had grown up calling the former President and First Lady, “Uncle Jed” and “Aunt Abbey”. They’d grown up with tons of “cousins”, children of various Bartlet administration members. Through the years everyone had tried to get together at the farmhouse in Manchester at least once a year. Jed and Abbey had loved to play host for their get togethers. The kids always turned the weekends into epic occasions complete with endless junk food supplies, doting adults and plenty of room to run around outside and explore. 

“I have to get out of here,” Mollie said as she shoved her feet in her sneakers and opened the front door. Andi watched her go, knowing she wasn’t going far, her car keys were still hanging on the hook by the front door.

Huck stood up and gave his mother a hug. “You need anything?” he asked.

“No, I’m good,” Andi said as she reached up to ruffle his red hair. 

“How about you Dad?” Huck asked as he leaned over the back of the couch and patted Toby’s shoulder.

“I’m okay,” Toby whispered, sounding anything but “okay”. 

Huck ran upstairs as Andi sat down on the arm of the couch next to Toby. She put her arm around him and leaned over to press a kiss to the top of his head. “What can I do?” she whispered. She got the fully expected shrug of his shoulders as he wiped at his eyes. “Why don’t you go take a shower?” Andi suggested. Toby just looked down at his outfit. They’d barely began their breakfast when Abbey called and had moved from the kitchen to the couch in front of the television, so he was still basically dressed in his pajamas from the night before. 

“Yeah,” he muttered in agreement. “Just answer this if it rings,” he said as he handed her his cell. It had been about an hour since it had last rung, the longest stretch of time since the morning.

Toby glanced out the front door before heading upstairs. Mollie was sitting on the top step. She had her cell in her hand and she was clearly texting. He hauled himself upstairs feeling every bit his age.

While Toby showered Andi straightened up a little. She threw away the assorted empty bottles and refolded the two plaid throws from the couch. After a quick glance in the freezer for something for dinner she decided pizza would be just fine. She didn’t think any of them were particularly hungry at the moment as they’d spent a good portion of the day emotionally eating whatever junk food they had in the house.

Donna called as Andi was finishing up loading the dishwasher. They chatted for a little while. Josh had headed up to New Hampshire on the first flight out of Dulles, leaving Donna to console their grieving teenaged sons. Like the twins, the Lyman boys, Jake and Jessie were extremely close to Jed and Abbey. Jed’s death had hit them hard and as in the Wyatt-Ziegler house, there had been many tears, stories and family hugs in the Lyman household that day in suburban Bethesda MD.

Andi carried a basket of clean laundry upstairs, setting it on the chair in the corner of their room. She heard the water turn off and the sound of the shower door rattling on the track as Toby opened it with a bit more force than necessary, a habit he’d had ever since they bought the house. He came out of the bathroom in a puff of Irish Spring scented steam, towel wrapped around his waist, smoothing down what was left of his hair. 

“Hey,” he muttered as he crossed the room to grab a pair of boxers out of the dresser. He pulled them on and rooted in the laundry basket for a pair of sweatpants. Not finding the pair he wanted, he pulled open a dresser drawer with too much force, pulling it off the rail. A few colorful words escaped his lips. Andi reached around him and pulled out the sweats she knew he was looking for. He took them with a small sniffle as she fixed the drawer. She found his favorite CCNY t-shirt and handed that to him too. He sat down on the edge of the bed, suddenly losing whatever small burst of life the shower had given him. Andi stood in between his legs, hands on his shoulders. She pressed a kiss to his forehead. 

“What do you want to do?” she asked as she looked into his sad brown eyes. Her question was met with the expected shrug of his shoulders. “You want some time alone?” she asked.

“Yeah, I think so,” he finally answered as he put his hands on her waist, moving her out of the way a little so he could stand up. He shoved his feet into his slippers and headed back downstairs to his office. 

“Open a window if you’re smoking a cigar,” she yelled at his retreating form. 

“Always, honey,” he called over his shoulder with a little laugh.

Toby entered the darkly paneled room, just turning on the small lamp on the table next to the leather couch. He walked to the humidor and pulled out a cigar. He lit it and opened the window, as requested. He looked around, eyes landing on the chess board on a small table in the corner of the room. It had been sitting there in the corner for years. He’d taught Huck how to play when he was still very young, Mollie had never seemed interested. But as his son had gotten older, playing chess with his Dad had been replaced by friends, sports and in more recent years, girls.

With tears once again starting to fall, Toby pulled the ottoman over to the table, sitting down on it. He reached to pick up a piece off the board, pulling his hand back before he touched anything. He stood up once again, crossing the room to the bookcase pulling a bottle of whiskey off the shelf. He poured a few fingers worth, downing it in a single gulp before pouring a bit more and carrying the glass back to the chess board. He set the glass down on the floor next to him and reached once again towards the ornately carved pieces. With reverence, he ran a finger over the tops of the pieces, just barely touching them. Eventually he picked up a pawn, rolling it around in his hand before setting it back where it belonged. 

Toby thought back to the night he’d played his first game using this set, it was the first of many, many games he’d played against Jed Bartlet. While the President had clearly been the superior player, Toby had managed to win a handful of times, taking care not to gloat when he did. They’d played in the Oval Office, Toby’s office, the front porch of the Manchester farmhouse and more than once in recent years, a hospital room at Elliot Hospital in Manchester NH.

The games always started off quietly, usually at the end of a long day, accompanied by a drink, or two. One of them would usually come up with a topic of conversation to go along with the match. Sometimes the topic evolved from the events of the day, sometimes it was about the mundane things and many times about children and grandchildren.

There was a gap of a few years in their chess matches, between the night Toby had been escorted from the White House and a tentative reconciliation a few years later after Jed had suffered a stroke and it looked as if the end was near. Abbey had asked Toby to come up to Manchester without telling her husband. She knew he’d be annoyed but she also knew both men were too smart and stubborn for their own good. Neither one was as sanctimonious or self-righteous as the other thought they were. Abbey knew they needed to see each other, either to make up and move on, or put an end to whatever fractured relationship they had left.

Thankfully after a long talk and a few games of chess, they were able to move on. The had decided to never speak of the leak again, to each other, or more importantly, in public. Jed’s memoirs had already been written by that time and there was no need to revisit the subject.

Toby picked up the black King, although in his set, it wasn’t black at all, it was an unfinished dark-colored wood. The king which had eventually remained standing at the end of their first game. Toby had picked up his king when Jed Bartlet left the room to attend to the matters at hand. He ended up losing 6 moves later but somehow losing instead of surrendering felt better. Toby wrapped his hand around the piece, bringing his hand up to his mouth, closing his eyes for a minute, sending up a little prayer. He set the piece back on the board, on its side--a fallen king.

He downed the last of his drink and snuffed out the cigar. Sitting at his desk he pulled a box out of the bottom drawer. He brushed his hand over it, wiping away some non-existent dust. The lid came off and he reached for his glasses. It had been years since the box had been opened and he wasn’t sure if opening it at that moment was the right decision but he forged on, set on finding the one thing he knew was buried somewhere in the box. At the top was his invitation to the opening of the Josiah E. Bartlet Presidential Library. That had been the first time all of them had been together since the end of the Bartlet administration. There was the invitation to Jed’s 75th birthday celebration, a weekend long party Abbey had hosted at the farmhouse. The official letter from the Office of the Pardon Attorney was also in there. When news of the pardon had gotten to Toby he actually thought long and hard about whether or not to even accept President Bartlet’s pardon, but a conversation with Andi and then one with CJ led him to accept it. There were a few other letters, his original appointment letter as the White House Communications Director. A note from Jed and Abbey which was sent after the twins were born. A few other newspaper clippings were stuck in there, ones he had no interest in reading at that moment. 

Toby finally found what he had originally been looking for, a simple white card with--- ** _Sigmund, come play chess_** \---written in Jed Bartlet’s neat, angular handwriting.

When he first saw the card on his desk, he knew it was the President’s handwriting but he felt for sure that the card had been delivered to the wrong desk. Playing chess wasn’t something they’d done before and they weren’t exactly on the best of terms at the time. The greeting, Sigmund, also threw him a little.

“Sigmund” became a private nickname that night, one generally reserved for their chess games. Toby’s use of “old man” as a nickname for Jed Bartlet had also stuck through the years, although it was only used on occasion, usually when more than one drink was involved.

Toby ran his finger over Jed Bartlet’s words as Andi wandered into the room. She leaned against the desk next to him, taking the card from his hands before setting it back down. 

“He was a good man,” she said quietly.

“Yeah, he was,” Toby agreed with a small sigh.

I’ll pick up a frame next time I go out,” she offered. Toby just nodded as he reached for her hand, giving it a squeeze.

“What are the kids doing?” Toby asked a minute later as Andi stood up to wander around the room.

“I think they’re on a Zoom call with Jake and Jessie. Donna’s says they’re pretty upset too. Josh’s already in Manchester. Abbey asked him a few weeks ago to come up and act as the family spokesman. We should start to make some plans to go up to New Hampshire. There should be some more details coming out soon,” Andi said as she wandered around the room. She glanced at the chess set with the king lying on its side. Words died on her lips as she turned to see Toby watching her as she moved around the room. He gave a sad smile before wearily running his hand over his beard. 

“I’ll talk to Josh in a little while, see what Abbey and the girls are thinking about arrangements. I know he’ll be buried in the family plot in Manchester but not sure about what he wanted as far as services,” Toby sighed as he pushed himself to his feet. He and Andi met in the middle of the room, one again in tears, silently clinging to each other for death life. The twins came in and joined their parents in a rare, 4 way, family hug. 

“You guys want pizza for dinner?” Andi asked as she untangled herself from the hug, swiping a hand over her eyes. Her husband and kids nodded in agreement. The twins left the room, playfully arguing about where to order the pizza from. “You going to be okay?” she asked Toby as she ran her hand down his arm, entwining her fingers with his for a second.

“Eventually,” he sighed. “I’ll be out in a few minutes. Don’t let Mollie order some veggie, vegan cheese crap,” he teased with a little smile.

Andi quietly closed the door behind her, heading for the kitchen and the ongoing pizza discussion.

Toby put the box back in the drawer, minus the card now propped up against his desk lamp. He turned his chair around to glance at the photographs on the bookshelves behind the desk. He picked up a few, one taken of the whole, extended and honorary, Bartlet family at Jed’s 75th birthday celebration, another one of twins as infants, propped up on one of the two matching striped couches in the Oval Office, right before Huck threw up on it. The final one he picked up was a photo of himself and Jed Bartlet, taken at the opening of the Presidential Library. The party was long over and they were sitting in a dark corner, drinks and cigars in hand, laughing about something long forgotten. It was a completely candid photograph; Toby didn’t even remember who took it in the first place. He ran his finger over the image before placing it back where it belonged.

Before leaving the room, Toby walked over to the chess set, kneeling down before picking up the fallen king. He set it back where it belonged, whispering the words “Zichrono Livrocho” before he stood up.

He turned out the lights and joined his family where they were once again huddled on the couch, this time watching Josh give a statement from the Bartlet family as he stood in front of the farmhouse. A place they’d shared so many good memories over the years. 

Josh ended his statement with the English translation of what Toby had whispered minutes earlier in his office, “May his memory be a blessing.”


End file.
